The Spurs lost at home to the Celtics, 90-83, but it was a national television coming out party for rookie DeJuan Blair, who posted 18 points and 11 rebounds in one of his best games of the season. He hit 9 of 11 shots from the field, and scored eight straight points in the fourth quarter to keep the Spurs in the game.
Interestingly, Manu Ginobili only played 18 minutes and sat much of the final period even though the Spurs were trying to mount a comeback. With the loss the Spurs fall to 9-7 on the season, while the Celtics advance to 15-4.
Looking at him, Matt Bonner might be the most unimpressive player in the NBA, but the guy can shoot, as evidenced by his 6 of 8 performance from 3PT range in the Spurs’ 112-98 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. On the season, Bonner has hit 26-55 (47%) from deep and will make teams pay if they double off of him.
Last night, the Spurs were down Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, who both sat with ankle injuries. But it didn’t matter because San Antonio had Manu Ginobili, who dropped 36 points on the unsuspecting Raptors. He shot 8-15 from the field, but hit 6-8 from long range and 14-16 of his free throws. He also posted eight assists, four rebounds and four blocks in the Spurs’ 131-124 win.
I thought about awarding this to Deron Williams for his 27-point, nine-assist, seven-rebound effort in Utah’s 113-99 win over the Spurs, but then I remembered that Tony Parker isn’t exactly known for his defensive prowess. Tim Duncan is. So that makes Carlos Boozer’s line — 27 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots — all that more impressive. He went 12-20 (60%) from the field and regularly scored on Duncan, who has been named to the All-Defensive team 12 times in his illustrious career.